Boys will be boys...

Durham-isms

At 2 years old, Durham is talking up a storm!  Here are a few Durham-ism's:

"Hold you!" - when he wants you to hold him this is what he says.

His standard greeting for anytime of the day is "Good morning!" (And yes, the exclamation points are necessary because he says it with such enthusiasm.)

"Where it is?" = Where is it?

Any kind of cereal is "mini neats" (mini wheats)

"What-a-doing?" = What are you doing?

"Durma" = Durham (poor kid can't even pronounce his own name)

"Drive face!" = Drive safe

It's hard to believe this munchkin is already 2.  Time flies.

Happy Baby

Cruz is 3 months old (tomorrow) and is such a happy, content baby.  He's such a sweet little guy who still loves to be held all the time and sleeps through the night like a champ.  Woo hoo!  He just recently started laughing which just brings smiles to everyone around.  Who doesn't love hearing a little baby laugh?!  Enjoy!

And the winner is... the wiener!

(This post is about hot dogs, don't freak out.)

So as I have mentioned a few times before, Durham is a ridiculously picky eater.  The kid eats the same 10 or so items all the time and refuses to try anything new.  He has never eaten any sort of meat ever... until a few days ago.

I try every single day to get him to try something new or hide new food in the things he will eat (which he usually finds and spits out).  So Saturday I decided to try to get him to eat a hot dog and he picked it up and started playing with it, which was a good sign to start because it's hard for him to even touch or show interest in any sort of new food.  He wouldn't bite it so I cut it into teeny tiny pieces and hid it in the mashed sweet potato he was eating.  He found it at first and said "Byoo!" (meaning blue) which is what he does when I try to hide blueberries in things so he spit it out.  I tried again and he ate it!  I told Dan about my victory and he said "That's good!  But that's sounds like a really gross combination."  haha!  Whatever, he ate it.  :)

I realize hot dogs are not the most nutritious thing to be feeding him, heck I don't even really like eating the mystery meat wieners myself, but I look at it as a huge victory in the debacle of feeding Durham.  I am hopeful that it leads to him trying more new things.  :)  Cross your fingers!

Snoozin'...

...on a summer afternoon...

Baby Cruz and his cousin, Gwen.  They fell asleep while at Grandma Curtis' house.  Cute babies!  By the way, did you get it, "Snoozin' on a summer afternoon" instead of "Cruisin' on a Sunday afternoon"?  :)  Hahaha I know it's not funny when you have to explain it, but I'm not that clever very often so I'm kind of excited about it!

He's Here!

Cruz Alexander Curtis was born via scheduled c-section (whew.. no drama this time) on April 23rd, 2012 at 1:07 p.m.  He weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long.  Now for the details...

I was scheduled for a c-section at noon on April 23rd, but had to check in at 10 a.m. to get all prepped and ready.  The night before Dan and I were both nervous wrecks.  I was scared to death that what happened with Durham's birth (amniotic fluid embolism where my lungs collapsed) would happen again and I might be living my last hours.  Sounds morbid, but it's true.  I even wrote letters to my boys just in case.  Yup, nervous wreck!!  So we said a prayer and tried to get some sleep.

The next day we dropped Durham off at grandma's house and headed to the hospital.  I was really calm somehow, but Dan was still really nervous.  We got to the hospital and our nurse, Diane, came out to talk to us.  She was so, so nice and was shocked to hear what had happened with Durham's birth.  We got to our room and there were 2 other nurses there so help get me all hooked up to everything and get paperwork done.

My cool hair net

Dan's super cool O.R. outfit

The anesthesiologist came in to talk to me and go over what to expect to happen before and during the surgery.  He was a funny guy.  He had read my history and knew of the amniotic fluid embolism that happened last time so when he came in he said, "I am aware of the drama from last time so let's just not talk about that.  We are going to have a boring c-section today.  I am sooooo bored just thinking about how boring it's going to be."  He helped lighten our moods and explained everything to Dan and me.

They had me all set to go and so we were just waiting for my doctor to arrive so we could move to the O.R.  She came in a little after noon so they took Dan and I over to the O.R.  They got me on the operating table and just when they were about ready to get me set up for the surgery, my doctor popped her head in and said she had to go deliver a baby.  So they wrapped me in like 5 warm blankets (the O.R. is fa-reeezing!!!) and we just sat around talking with the nurses and the anesthesiologist for about 20 minutes or so.

Finally my doctor came back and said they could go ahead and prep me.  I think that's when my nerves finally hit me that day.  I became very quiet and just tried to keep myself calm.  They gave me a spinal block and wow, was that painful!  Probably the most painful part of the whole thing.  An epidural is cake compared to how this felt and not to mention he had to poke my spine 3 times to find a suitable spot because the first two places were too "tight" in his words.  Ouch.  :(

Once the spinal block was all set they laid me down on the table, set up the big blue sheet to block my vision of blood and guts, and my doctor started some tests to see if I could feel anything.  It's very strange because you can actually feel things.  For instance, she asked what I felt and I told her it felt like she was tapping me with her finger.  She showed me over the sheet that she was holding a very scary looking set of pliers and said she was actually pinching me with them.  So once they knew I was good and numb, they began the surgery.  In about 10 minutes the nurses pushed down hard on my chest area (the anesthesiologist told us to expect this and to expect a lot of pressure afterward) and I heard my doctor say "There you are handsome boy.  Oh, you have your cord wrapped around your neck" and I started to worry a little because I hadn't heard the baby make any noise.  She then reached over the sheet holding baby Cruz and put his little face against mine to give me a kiss.  Then he made a noise, a short little "AH!"  At that point I couldn't see him very well because I had tears in my eyes and my hands were tied down so I couldn't wipe them, but it was love at first sight!  That moment was so intense for Dan and I since we never got to experience that "fresh out of the oven" moment with Durham.  It is beyond words to describe the feeling of meeting the little human you created for the first time.  

Cruz Alexander Curtis

Dan went with the nurses to check out baby Cruz while I was still on the operating table.  The anesthesiologist was by my head the whole time and thank goodness he was because with Dan gone and everyone else behind the sheet, I felt a little alone.  The anesthesiologist had warned me that after having all of the pressure pushed on me to help get the baby out, I would probably feel tightness and pressure in my chest.  Knowing my history from last time when my lungs collapsed, he told me not to associate this pressure in my chest with what happened last time.  Well, as hard as I tried not to do that, I kind of freaked out because the pressure was so intense.  He was very attentive and kept asking me if I was alright and he knew that I was freaking out a little, so he asked if I wanted something to calm down and I said yes.  Then I was just fine.  The surgery took a lot longer than I had anticipated, or maybe it just seemed like a really long time after the excitement was over and I was just stuck strapped down to the operating table.  

Sweet baby boy

As soon as it was done they wheeled my bed into recovery and I got to hold Cruz and nurse him.  We stayed in the hospital 3 days and had nothing major happen with the exception of my IV blowing and dumping all of the fluids under my skin for who knows how long since I was asleep.  My hand literally looked like a latex glove blown full of air.  I couldn't even pick up Cruz to hold him and Dan had to help me every time I had to nurse him.  Not fun, but if that was the worst thing that happened with this birth, I'll take it.  

We brought baby Cruz home and the first few days at home with Durham and a newborn were very rough.  Our entire family also ended up with a wicked cold and let me tell you, having your guts cut open and having to cough is extremely painful.  It's also difficult to be sick, be recovering from surgery, take care of a newborn, and take care of a sick toddler, but somehow we managed to survive it and we are great now.  

Cruz is a very sweet little baby and loves to be held.  He is happy as long as you are holding him.  He is 2 months old now (I know, geez, it took me a long time to get this post done!) and is starting to smile and giggle while staring off into space.  :)  Durham has adjusted really well to having a baby brother and loves to be called a "helper".  My days are extremely busy, but they are joyful.  These little boys bring a lot of smiles to my face and a lot of love in my heart.

Lesson Learned

Back in my newlywed, pre-children days, I used to sit in sacrament meeting at church and observe all the different children and would say to myself, "My kids will sit quietly on the bench with their coloring books and be the well-behaved type."  Ha!  Lesson learned: don't judge the moms with the rowdy, loud kids that just want to get out of the pew and run free because you will get one!  I am humbled by my naive judgments and realize now that a mom (and dad, and grandma) can do all they can do to try to get a very determined 21-month old to sit still and behave during sacrament meeting and it just won't work.  There are probably eyes out there in the congregation judging me and the "wild Curtis boy", but I love this kid and were it not for his spunk and attitude, he would not be the Durham Curtis that brings so much joy and laughter to his parents!

Just a quick update on Durham - He is 21 months and talking up a storm!  I just love his little "scratchy voice" (his daddy had a voice like that when he was young and the neighbor kid called him "the kid with the scratchy voice") and his cute little way of pronouncing things.  For example, a spoon is a "foom", open it is "opone it", grandma is "goga", and soap is "soat".  He will say anything you say, or at least attempt it, and is such a little sponge.  Every single day he learns something new and as a mom it is fascinating to watch.  He is definitely still a ham and loves to make you laugh.

He is also quite the daredevil.  Dan and I still don't know where this comes from... Uncle Tyler maybe?  His newest thing is to stand up on the seat of his "quad" with no hands, just standing straight up on the seat.  The other day he threw a fit at Grandma Curtis' house because he wanted to ride his quad toy there down the four concrete steps in their backyard.  He also likes to get up on the back of the couch and jump down to the couch cushions.  I think we have our hands full with this little dude!

And finally, tomorrow at noon Durham gets to officially become a big brother!  We have been telling him that mama has brother in her belly so he will come up to me, put his hand on my belly and say "brother" (more like "bwuthew").  We also added a crib to his room and he will show us which bed is his and which bed is for "brother".  I don't think he fully grasps what is coming his way, but we will soon find out how he feels about it.  Dan and I are both a little nervous since Durham's birth was so scary, but my doctor has assured me that things will be very different this time and it will be a smooth delivery.  I am honestly looking forward to getting the c-section and hospital time over with so I can be home with my boys!  Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers!